A Pledge To Treat My Shoes With Better Care

 It's a magical moment when I come across a pair of shoes I can wear without socks. Don't you dare ask me to take my shoes off though. A sense of panic comes over me if someone has a no-shoes-in-the-house rule and I'm caught without socks (visual here).

The shoes that can handle it are usually made from cotton. My go to sock free shoes are TOMS.

By not wearing some sort of sock I am inevitably RUINING these shoes. Do you experience this?

Notice the white marks on the shoe?
Do you enjoy how I staged the shoes on my dresser?

The sweat changes the color of the shoes as pictured above. The salty residue makes for some nasty looking marks. Quite embarrassing. These are now dubbed my "bang around" shoes. Ya know when I'm painting, gardening, wood working... so I never wear them I guess. If you're considering buying a pair of Keds without laces, like these, I don't recommend it. They fly off my feet.

What I love about my TOMS are I can throw them in the washing machine. They come out a little wrinkly but they smell not nasty and no longer have the weird salty residue.

But I think it's time to take a little more care. No more reckless sockless shoe wearing. 

Whenever I wear dressy shoes I wear peds/shoe liners/mini socks/whatever you want to call them to help the sweat. Dressy shoes are so uncomfortable when your foot is sloshing about. These mini socks are a lifesaver. I've invested in a few more pairs recently to help protect all my shoes.

Found these at Target for $3 a pair.
I've also purchased similar socks at Nordstrom Rack and Macy's

When I was in high school they had mini socks like this available but they weren't as discreet. The mini socks would always show. In high school, when everything is a big fucking deal, those socks showing were mortifying! I remember dressing up for an event, had some cute pink heels but had the wear the socks. I can still hear Brendan saying, "Hey Sara, your socks are showing." END.OF.THE.WORLD.MOMENT. Kids of today you're lucky they make these super discreet "hidden shoe liners."

On the back of the mini sock is a little rubber like grip thing that helps keep it on your foot.
Look for this feature before buying. It's super helpful.

Mini socks in action!

Above I'm wearing a pair of shoes that hardly cover the top of the foot. Not a shoe I wear in foreign territory because the tops of my feet sweat. But you can see the socks are for the most part hidden. With a shoe that covers a tad more of the foot they are most definitely hidden from view.

With some basic web based research you can find some other products out there. Has anyone tried these liners?  Silver Linings: Odor & Moisture Absorbing Shoe Liners

Do guys encounter this problem? Obviously sandals are an issue for everyone with sweaty feet (Unisex sandals I recommend). I always see guys wearing socks or rolling socks down to hide under the shoe. What are your tricks?

Also, just ordered some foot detox patches at the recommendation of Jessie (awesome Twitter follower!). She's seen good results thus far. Her feet surprisingly don't sweat after using them. Fingers crossed I have the same results. Separate post on that later.